LONDON -- Some of the Premier League's foreign owners want
to abolish the relegation and promotion system, a senior English
soccer executive said Monday.

With half of the Premier League's 20 clubs under foreign
ownership, League Managers' Association chief executive Richard
Bevan said if more teams are sold to overseas investors they could
force a dramatic change to the rules.

"There are a number of overseas-owned clubs already talking
about bringing about the avoidance of promotion and relegation in
the Premier League," Bevan said at the Professional Players
Federation conference in London. "If we have four or five more new
owners, that could happen."

“

There are a number of overseas-owned clubs already talking
about bringing about the avoidance of promotion and relegation in
the Premier League. If we have four or five more new
owners, that could happen.

”-- League Managers' Association CEO Richard
Bevan

Forcing through any change to the Premier League's rules
requires the support of 14 of the 20 clubs.

"Certainly you'll find that with American owners and you'll
find that with some of the Asian owners (they have been talking
about scrapping relegation)," Bevan said on the sidelines of the
conference.

Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester United and
Sunderland are owned by Americans, while Blackburn is under Indian
ownership and Queens Park Rangers has Malaysian backers.

Under the current system, the three bottom clubs are relegated
each season from the top flight to the second-tier Championship,
while three clubs are promoted from the Championship to the Premier
League.

Bevan wants The Football Association to implement rules that
would prevent the current promotion system from being changed.

"If you look at sports all around the world and you look at
sports owners trying to work out how to invest to make money, you
will find that most of them like the idea of franchises," Bevan
said. "If you take particularly American owners, without doubt,
there have been a number of them looking at having more of a
franchise situation and that would mean no promotion or relegation.

"Obviously if I was an American owner and I owned a football
club or I was an Indian owner I might be thinking I would like to
see no promotion or relegation, my investment is going to be safer
and my shares are going to go up in value."